Truck manufacturer Mack Trucks also begins strike

In the US, the United Automotive Workers Union (UAW) announced that approximately 4,000 of its members have decided to strike at the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida plants of Mack Trucks, a division of the Swedish Volvo Group. In a statement, the United Automotive Workers Union (UAW) in the US announced that the unionized workers rejected the tentative agreement regarding the contract offer. The statement indicated that approximately 4,000 unionized workers have gone on strike at Mack Trucks plants in the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida as of today. The UAW statement reported that with the participation of workers at Mack Trucks, the total number of unionized workers on strike has exceeded 30,000 in 22 states. Employer announces economic loss On the other hand, Michigan-based economic consultancy firm Anderson Economic Group (AEG) shared its latest analysis of the strike called "Stand Up" organized by UAW workers against General Motors (GM), Ford Motor and Stellantis. AEG's statement stated that the strike is estimated to have caused a total economic loss of $5.5 billion in 3 weeks. The statement noted that this figure surpasses the estimated $4 billion in economic damage from the month-long strike that the UAW launched against GM in 2019. The statement estimated that $579 million of this economic damage was in direct wage losses, with $2.68 billion in lost producers, $1.6 billion in lost suppliers, and $1.26 billion in lost dealers and customers. Automotive workers’ strike After the UAW’s negotiations on a new contract for approximately 150,000 workers with Ford, GM, and Stellantis failed to reach an agreement as of September 14, the expiration date of the current contract, approximately 13,000 workers had decided to go on strike. Thus, the autoworkers’ strike targeting the three major automakers started on September 15, and for the first time in the union’s 88-year history, workers at three auto plants went on strike together. The union announced on September 22 that they would expand the strike against GM and Stellantis due to lack of progress in the new contract negotiations. In this context, it was announced that workers would stop work at 38 more GM and Stellantis plants in 20 states. The UAW announced last week that 7,000 more members working at Ford Motor and GM would go on strike, and that there would be no new strikes at Stellantis because improvements were made to the contract. The union said in a statement last week that progress had been made in talks with automakers.